Turlock City Council set to decide farmers market proposals’ fate

The Turlock City Council is gearing up for what is expected to be a contentious showdown between two competing farmers market proposals this week.

Council members will decide at their meeting Tuesday night which group, the current nonprofit operator or a new rival for-profit owner, will run the city’s farmers market. City Hall’s staff has left the decision entirely to the five-member elected board after declining to give a recommendation in its agenda report.

The existing nonprofit Turlock Certified Farmers Market was founded in 2009 and has run the market downtown for six years. The group and many in the community were surprised when one of the vendors, Peter Cipponeri, submitted a street closure application in December to displace the current market with his own for-profit enterprise. The 24-year-old farmer’s family operates a booth at the market under the name Cipponeri Family Farms.

After a four-hour special session in February, the council voted in a 3-2 split decision, led by Mayor Gary Soiseth, to accept a new proposal process to determine who should run the market. Groups had until March 8 to submit their plans. The Turlock Certified Farmers Market has handed in an 80-page proposal for its market with a run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays from May 7 to Nov. 18, possibly extending its current schedule by three weeks. Cipponeri filed his own 46-page proposal under his company name of Golden State Farmers’ Markets Association for a market that would run from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays from May 7 to Oct. 29, a change from his initial plan to hold the event year-round.

Each application includes vision statements, timetables, experience, vendor lists, expense and revenue budgets, references and more.

Elizabeth Claes, chairwoman of the Turlock Certified Farmers Market volunteer board, said the groups had been informed beforehand that the city’s staff would not be making a recommendation to the council on which proposal to accept. City government officials typically provide the council some guidance on issues requiring a vote at meetings.

“Given the nature of this situation, it doesn’t surprise me that they would defer to the council,” she said.

Claes said her group’s proposal has suggested an extension of its current market by three weeks as a way to show it’s “willing to grow and expand through this experience.” But she said the longer plan would go forward only after surveying and receiving backing from downtown businesses.

Cipponeri could not be reached for comment. His initial street-closure application, which precipitated the city’s new proposal process, suggested he would run his market throughout the year. But his submitted market proposal now falls within the current group’s traditional 26-week schedule.

His for-profit Golden State Farmers’ Markets Association budgets for $37,600 in estimated revenue and $36,674 in estimated expenses, making a modest net income of $926 in 2016. The nonprofit Turlock Certified Farmers Market has budgeted for an estimated $37,300 in estimated revenue and $37,470 in estimated expenses, making for a small net loss of $170 in 2016.

In the past two years, the Turlock Certified Farmers Market has come out ahead of its projected budgets, earning about $3,700 and $4,300 in net income for 2014 and 2015, respectively. Claes said the group’s treasurer has been consistently conservative in projected budgeting over the years to avoid going in the red.

In Cipponeri’s proposal, he said he plans to invite 36 vendors from the 2015 market back to his new market. The certified market’s proposal includes 40 vendors for 2016.

Each proposal was also required to provide at least three references. The current market operators submitted 11 recommendations, including several from past vendors, surrounding businesses, local restaurants and other community nonprofits. Cipponeri’s application included five references, three from city government officials in Carmel and one from the city of Hughson, both locations where he runs existing markets. The other recommendation is from the market manager for Copperopolis, which recently partnered with him to run its upcoming farmers market. (See accompanying story.) Turlock’s city staff members were not allowed to be used as references.

Both sides will be allotted 20 minutes to present their proposals at the City Council meeting Tuesday. There also will be a period for public comment.

Claes said she is not sure what the public response will be at the Tuesday meeting. In February, an overflow crowd of more than 130 people attended and some 30 people spoke out either in support of the current nonprofit market or against the city’s new proposal plan. Cipponeri, who was present at the meeting, did not speak, nor did anyone expressing support of his plan during the more than four-hour session.

Since the farmers market issue began, Soiseth and some members of the council have been under criticism because of political contributions made by Cipponeri and his relatives. A quarter of the mayor’s campaign funding came from Cipponeri’s extended family, totaling about $14,400. Others, including Councilman Steven Nascimento – who has twice voted against creating a new farmers market proposal process – have called for a Tin Cup (Time Is Now, Clean Up Politics) ordinance for the city, which is meant to limit the influence of money in government.

Whatever the council decides, Claes said, she has been heartened by the public support and “kind” feedback her group has received during this process.

“This always has been the people’s market. This has never been my market. It doesn’t surprise me they are speaking out for their market. I am proud they were willing to stand up and say this is what is important to them as a community,” she said. “I hope that whatever the decision is, it is for the best for the farmers and the people of Turlock.”

This story was originally published March 12, 2016 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Turlock City Council set to decide farmers market proposals’ fate."